>gnoll warren!
Jalak, letting out a long exhalation of relief as the crowd's scrutiny ceased to focus so heavily on him, found his mind wandering.
He was supposed to be thinking hard, trying to work out a sensible next move amidst the slippery, dangerous sands of his current situation, but instead a small, absent smile tugged at his lips as he thought back, back to that crazy time with the snake cult...
Changed my choice from gnoll warren to snake cult. It was a really, really tough decision to begin with, and I only went with the gnolls because Dustan's character seemed likely to wind up interacting with them at some point. Now it seems like we'll be in more, less jovial conflict in the near future, so it doesn't seem as helpful.
Blue Skull Gang seems interesting too, though... agh. If you, GM, feel more inspired to write about one of the other choices, feel free to go with that instead.
I have plans for my next turn, but let's get some serious reminiscing out of the way!
That Tangled movie actually looks really good, huh. Never watched it but that clip was quite entertaining.
Might be a worthy rival for Shrek, which is probably one of the best 3d kids' movies I can remember in the (kinda) recent past. Also, welcome back ATH!
Jalak and his crew were sitting around a fairly large table in a bar that was cleaner and more brightly lit than this one. The five of them were celebrating after a very successful caravan raid, drinking and eating and just having some relaxing time off out of the desert. Minos Maxos had some weird looking chick with a nose ring wrapped around his arm, Osuttasue-Uhasab ordered two entrees and was picking at them while getting thoroughly drunk, Tumbleweed was counting money, and Jalak was wearing a new and fairly ornate eyepatch that he stole from one of the merchants that the crew had just murdered. He wasn't missing an eye, but it looked stylish and flattering. Even Tesen was smiling and looked like he was having a good time. The bar wasn't crowded; only a few other tables had anyone sitting at them, mostly smaller groups.
"Damn, that was amazing," Tesen grinned as he lowered his mug of ale. "If we could do business like that every week, we'd be rich." [1] Nobody paid much attention to the oddly uniform new guests that were all entering the bar together.
"There'd be nothing left to steal after a while!" Minos Maxos laughed as he produced a large dried black lotus from a pouch at his belt. He held it up to the woman, who took a petal and placed it under her tongue, before he set it in the middle of the table and took a petal himself. "Anybody else?"
What did Jalak do? What does he remember happening next?
i bet it is him. I never did like lawbreakers, which was part of why I got the position of hammerer! Get my drinking buddies together and ready to catch a bandit in disguise!
"Shit man, you're right. That picture does look like a bandit." Yao-bo says before belching loudly and pouring another glass from the pitcher.
"No, he means he knows that guy." Macthotho interjects.
"What guy?"
"The bandit."
"Oh." Yao-bo takes a sip of his beer. "Do you dudes remember that time bandits started a fight in here? We were sitting right here, right at this table..."
---
It was about a year ago, to the day, and the three were sitting at their table, getting sloshed. Aside from Drubjarred's beard being a little shorter, Yao-bo being probably ten pounds lighter, and Macthotho wearing less fancy clothes, they looked virtually the same. It was like any other afternoon wasted in the tavern, but this time there were some unusual guests; a pack of oddly dressed armed men spending ostentatiously and conversing loudly in the center of the room. Bandits.
"Damn, that was amazing! If we could do business like that every week, we'd be rich!" said one of them, practically slamming his mug down on the table. Macthotho looked at Yao-bo and Drubjarred with a look of sympathetic disgust.
"This is ridiculous. Why does this city have such a bad problem with bandits?" Yao-bo asked at a whisper, before looking off towards the door and turning back to Drubjarred and Macthotho. "Hey, who are all these weirdos?"
A small assembly of robed figures was marching in through the main doors. Two columns of five, males and females both present and all robed in dark satin with malachite-green designs of coiling serpents. At the head of the columns, a preternaturally tall man [3] with an unusual cast to his features, draped in satin and holding a staff crowned by a coiling winged serpent, wings outstretched. The ten stood stock still with rigid discipline while the tall one took in his surroundings.
"There'd be nothing left to steal after a while!" snorted one of the bandits with laughter as he held up a large dried black lotus. He fed a petal to the strumpet on his arm and set it on the table. "Anyone else?" All of the bandits looked at it, and then Drubjarred made eye contact with the one wearing an eyepatch.
It's him. Everything clicks. That bandit, a year ago, is the chamberlain. And he is absolutely the one on the wanted poster, without a doubt.
---
"What happened next?" Macthotho asks.
"I don't know, I can't remember. Drubjarred did
something." Yao-bo rubs his temples before turning to the dwarf. "What'd you do when that bandit got out the lotus and the cultists walked in?"
Scarlet is in raptures. Cheering fans always make her smile, but to be singing along and having fun face to face with people who love her is a joy Scarlet hasn't ever experienced.
She steals a glance around, unconsciously expecting to spot of her manager glaring at her from a corner, but the old hag is nowhere to be seen. It begins to dawn on Scarlet that she is the one in charge of this show. There is no schedule to follow, no precise sequence of steps to direct her. Minutes ago she had been trembling at the thought of having no one to tell her what she should do, but now she starts to realize the freedom granted by to her by that thought.
The last bit of Scarlet's sense slips away and she moves through the crowd of thugs toward the middle of the room, leaving Flora and her new acquaintance behind at the counter. She had been hoping to speak with him before all these people recognized her, but she has now completely forgotten about him since he is just about the only person who isn't paying attention to her.
Dance my way into the center of the room. Try to raise the energy level and get the audience up on their feet and involved.
[5] Scarlet gets up on a table and keeps singing as she dances and strides her way to the center of the room. Other patrons get involved, several singing complimentary verses and choruses from Scarlet's song. Virtually everyone at this point is dancing. It's essentially devolved into a musical number. Flora is polishing a glass and dancing behind the counter. The crowd is extremely positive, and extremely energetic.
Check is anything intresting happening in the tavern?
[6] Laura peeks in. The dwarf is sitting at a table and drinking. It's a pretty quiet afternoon, nothing that interesting. She walks inside.
"Hey! Pssst." A weirdly long and hunched figure in a dark cowl beckons Laura over to its table. It is clearly not human. Maybe even not a humanoid. It looks like a long coil of muscle wrapped in miscellaneous rags and concealed under a cloak, like an enormous worm or something. Two large wet eyes glint under the hood.
"Sit down. I have a business proposition for you." A very small arm by the creature's side jingles a heavy purse of coins.
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Topic: Turaco's Sellswords RTD: Turn 17: I Guess This Counts As Taking Casualties (Read 27656 times)